Enron
Lives OnNews about
Enron caught my eye this week. It seems they are one of three American
companies that run electricity in the Dominican Republic. These megawatt
moguls claim the government of the DR owes them 300 million dollars and they
have been shutting off power as part of their collection efforts. But help is
on the way. Former president Leonel Fernández,
who sold them his nation’s grid system during the Nineties, is returning to
office once again. He is negotiating a 600 million dollar IMF loan to pay the
light bill and other debts to foreign companies and banks.

They’ll Leave the Light On For You In Macomb CountyThis county just north of Detroit doesn’t tolerate freeloaders in its
jail. Inmates–there were 22,000 of them last year–are billed for room and
board on a sliding scale of $8 to $56 a day, depending on ability to pay. When
they are released, the sheriff's office will go to court to collect the unpaid
bills, seizing cars or putting some inmates back in jail. These inn keepers
collected 1.5 million in “pay to stay” last year.

Lucky To Get A JobAbout 30,000 have mailed in post cards to apply for 3,000 temporary,
nonunion dock jobs in the Port of Los Angeles. Selections will be through a
lottery drawing.

Sheepskin No Insulation Against UnemploymentIn a big turn around from just a decade ago, unemployment among college
grads is increasing almost as fast as for those with only high school
diplomas. Even the differential with high school drop outs is only about half
of what it was ten years ago. The Economic Policy Institute says, “The current recovery has been
marred by the persistent lack of job creation for workers of all educational
levels. The present economic woes are not due to failures regarding the supply
side of labor (such as too few college graduates), but rather they are the
result of a persistently low demand for all labor.”

Still Out Of ControlI was asked this afternoon, by our site safety editor, how I would
characterize the present situation in Iraq. That was the easiest answer I’ve
had to give in a long time: out of control. My answer would remain the
same if the question was short term prognosis or medium term prediction.

Bush and Blair had hoped the “handover of power” to their former intelligence
operative, Ayad Allawi, would at least buy them some time. But the bogus
“sovereign” Iraqi government didn’t get so much as a day of honeymoon. It has
been met with virtually unanimous contempt and defiance. In every part of
Iraq–Baghdad, Mosul, Bosra, Kut, Najaf, Falluja–U.S. and British troops and
planes have had to continue to intervene in bloody combat while the new Iraqi
army and police position themselves strategically on the sidelines.

The long awaited Iraq National Conference opened on Saturday. The gathering
was held under intense security precautions in the fortified Green Zone
enclave in Baghdad, with helicopters flying overhead and 15-foot-high concrete
barriers blocking the entrance. Bridges leading to the area were barricaded
and the government imposed a daytime curfew for the area. The delegates were
all frisked for weapons. American security forces were in charge. Still, with
all these precautions, mortar fire twice shook the conference hall.

As this conclave of compradors ruminates those on the other side of the
barricades, the people of Iraq, continue to suffer with mass unemployment,
lack of reliable electricity and drinking water, and collapsed health care and
educational systems–not to mention ongoing “collateral damage.”

GIs, and their coalition counterparts, also continue to suffer, more dead and
wounded recorded daily.

The cause of this suffering is the U.S./British invasion/occupation. A
precondition for any progress is the withdrawal of the occupation forces.

A clear majority of the American people now support such withdrawal. But you
will not hear this demand raised by the major party candidates in what has
become the longest and most expensive election campaign in history.

The antiwar movement can ill-afford to subordinate efforts to defeating
Bush–as many have–especially when Bush’s opponent favors continuation of the
war. The only major national demonstration currently projected is at the
Republican convention. (There was no major antiwar action at the Democrat
convention.)

The only bright spot in the antiwar movement has been the dogged determination
of US Labor Against the War who are winning support among American unions and building solidarity with
labor around the world in support of Iraqi unions.

In the long run only a strong Iraqi labor movement, in collaboration with
movements for women’s and democratic rights, can unite the diverse forces of a
post-Saddam, post-occupation Iraq, and bring a democratic, peaceful stability
to this long suffering country. American workers should support those
efforts–above all by demanding our GIs be brought home now.

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